Promise
by Verawrites-93
Summary: As more Vikings take to the skies and ease into the sport of dragon racing, the stakes are raised and competition becomes more fierce. Astrid is given a run for her money and she resorts to pulling off dangerous stunts in an attempt to win. Hiccup is not very fond of that idea. ONESHOT Rated T for swearing.


Well. It has been a LONG time since I've written anything aside from essays, so I'm very rusty. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this little oneshot.

As more Vikings take to the skies and ease into the sport of dragon racing, the stakes are raised and competition becomes more fierce. I imagine our dear Astrid would be given a run for her money more often than not. With her being as competitive as she is, she would be more likely to try daring stunts in an attempt to win races.

Hiccup is probably not very fond of that idea.

 **Promises**

The front door flew open, slamming against the wall, startling me enough to send the herbal brew I'd been nursing over the edge of the table. His riding helmet hit the floor and bounced a few times before rolling out of sight under a chair.

"Gods dammit, Astrid! Why would you do that?" Hiccup was pissed. More than pissed, he was hurt; a look of betrayal written across his features. His hands were at his sides, fists and jaw clenched, shoulders tense.

"How many more times are we going to do this, Astrid? How many more times?" His voice grew louder with every word. It wasn't often that Hiccup was ever angry enough to shout.

"I'm OK, babe. I've had wor- " His head was shaking before I could even finish my sentence, a noise of exasperation escaping his lips, his hand coming up to brush through his hair.

"No, Astrid. That's not going to work this time. You made me a promise."

"That's not fair."

"How is it not?"

"It's just not." His hands flew into the air.

"What does that even mean, Astrid? You make someone a promise, you keep that promise. What is there that's _'not fair'_ about that? " Hiccup was always more animated when he was upset; his hands moving faster, emphasizing his distress. His palms landing flat on the table in front of me with a loud thump as he finished, making me jump for a second time, my shoulder twinging in discomfort causing a small hiss to escape my lips. He missed nothing; his eyes moved from my face to my shoulder and back again, a frown forming. "Well?"

"It's not fair of you to ask me to be anything less than who I am, Hiccup." His brow furrowed.

"That's not what I'm asking."

"But it is."

"I'm asking for you to keep your promises, Astrid. I'm asking for you to not be so stupid." I couldn't keep the shock and hurt from my face. Stupid? He thinks that I'm stupid?

I moved from my stool and around the table in a flash; too fast really, my arm and leg protested and I stumbled into his chest. His arms immediately reached out to help me, but my already wounded pride wouldn't allow that. A quick step backwards, a hand on the table, and I could pretend my ascent had been as graceful as intended. I narrowed my eyes at him, challenging him to say anything.

Stupid?

"How dare you." My fists met his chest, once, twice, trying to push him further away from me, trying to show him I was angry. I couldn't keep my balance. My hands reached out for the table to steady myself. He wasn't buying it.

"Look at you." His arms crossed over his chest, his eyes looking my body over. His jaw tightened further.

"I am _not_ stupid, Hiccup." My voice sounded small even to my own ears. His expression softened.

"You're right, you're not. That's why this is upsetting, Astrid." A hand came to rest on my back, and began moving in small, soothing circles. He pulled me into a loose embrace and helped me down onto the floor where I could sit and lean against the wall. He sat down across from me. A warm hand found its way to my chin, bringing my eyes up to his.

"Astrid, you promised me that you weren't going to push it anymore. You promised me that you weren't going to get hurt." I frowned at him, furrowing my brows and shaking my head at him.

"I don't know how not to push it. I have to be the best. That's who I am. That's who I have always been. It's expected of me."

"No one expects anything of you, let alone for you to hurt yourself trying."

"That's just part of it; an occupational hazard." He let out a chuckle.

"It's not fair of you to expect me to be any different. You can't tell me that I can't do certain things because you're afraid I'll get hurt. You jump off the back of your dragon all of the time for Gods sake, Hiccup." His hand retracted quickly from my cheek.

"Which I have stopped doing on solo flights because _you_ _specifically asked me not to_. I keep my promises, Astrid. I have respect enough for you to do that."

"First you call me stupid and now you're calling me disrespectful." I couldn't keep my leg from shooting out to kick him. I could take being ridiculed and defamed when it was other people in the village, but it bothered me coming from Hiccup. Coming from Hiccup, it stung.

"I'm _angry_ , Astrid. You fell off your dragon, _again_ , trying to pull off some _ridiculous_ stunt so that you could win a race that doesn't even mean _anything_." He was up on his feet again, pacing the room, his hands tense.

"Fuck you." He threw his head back and let out a bark of a laugh.

"You only say that when you know you're wrong."

"You're only angry because you weren't there." He stopped pacing. His face was to the door, the stiff hard line of his back was all that I could see. It had tensed; I had struck a chord. He didn't say anything. I could practically hear his mind whirring. A minute must have passed before his shoulders sagged and he turned to face me. His eyes were glassy, his mouth set in a deep frown. My heart thudded slowly and painfully.

"You're right. I wasn't there to help you. Toothless would've caught you. I wasn't there because my father is gone. I have a village to look after now. I won't always be there to have your back, and that bothers me, Astrid, to have to tell you that I won't always be there for you. So, I needed you to promise me that you understood that, that you weren't going to get hurt, for the both of us. You broke that promise." Shame, I felt it filling me up. He had been counting on me and I had let him down. My own arrogance had gotten the better of me.

"I can't lose you too, Astrid." He sank to the ground where he was. I crawled over to him and took his hands in mine.

"I had to hear from Snotlout how you'd fallen, how your body smacked against a feeding station, how hard you hit the ground. It took Gothi a half hour to get you breathing normally." He shook his head, his voice pained. "I know who you are, Astrid. You are smart, strong, brave, and Gods know how competitive you are. I would never ask you to be any different. I'm only asking for you to be more careful." We both sat in silence once more. Our eyes met, both pairs watery, both sets of lips downcast. I reached for his face, my hands resting gently on his cheeks as I pulled him closer to me, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have called you stupid."

"You definitely shouldn't have." The corner of his mouth lifted at that.

"I know your shoulder hurts, your leg too. What else? Let's see." He started pulling at the buckles that held my pauldrons on. Normally I would protest, I would play tough, but I would let him have this. He pulled my shirt over my head and gasped.

"Astrid." I knew what he was seeing; I had hit the wood pretty hard, I could feel where it was bruised. His fingertips ghosted over the sensitive skin. The frown was back. "That looks terrible. How does it feel?"

"The way it looks." He rolled his eyes.

"How did you hit that station?"

"Only my left side. My shoulder took the brunt of it. My right arm and hip hit the ground first."

"Let me see." Off came my skirt and my leggings. His hands were brushing along the length of my leg before he'd even gotten them past my feet. I could see this bruise. We both winced at the same time. The whole of my hip and upper thigh was already turning a deep purple, the edges a sickly looking green and yellow. "Ugh." He shook his head at me as he grabbed my hand, feeling around my wrist, poking and prodding, satisfied when he found no tender spots. I had been lucky.

"Stormfly tried to grab me. She had me by my belt, but it came loose. She saved me. I meant it when I was saying it could've been worse." His eyes closed and his hand ran through his hair again as he let out a sigh.

"Alright then, let's get you in bed." Just as he had brought me down, he pulled me into his arms and lifted me up, keeping one shoulder underneath my good arm as we walked towards the stairs. It took us a few moments and some careful maneuvering before we reached the top. He guided me over to our bed and sat me down. With a gentle hand on my chest, he pushed me backwards onto my pillow, carefully lifting my leg and propping my hip up with another.

"I could've done that myself."

"Yes, you definitely could have." I smiled at him, "but I wanted to." I decided I would let him have this one too. "I'll get some water to get you cleaned up with." He turned towards the stairs.

"Hiccup," I opened my arms wide, hoping that he would see my invitation for what it was. He smiled softly at me, walking back over to the bed and taking a seat. He bent down and took off his boot and prosthetic. I watched as he removed his riding gear and then his tunic, before curling into my side, burying his face in my chest, slinging an arm over my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"I was scared." I could feel wetness on my skin. My hands found their way into his hair.

"Me too," I whispered. So quietly I doubted as to whether he had heard me.

"You were?" He was whispering now, understanding that this was a secret. Astrid Haddock was never scared. At least not that she would admit out loud to anyone but him. I sat myself up, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I saw you," my eyes meet his, "as I fell." The corner of his mouth lowers slightly and he leans in. He kisses my chin, my nose, and brushes past my lips. His lips find the bruises on my shoulder, my back and glide down to my hip, leaving a trail of warmth behind as he makes his way back up to my face. He cups my face in his hands as he gives me one last lingering kiss before lying back down and opening his arms up to me.

There would be no more words for tonight. No more words of anger, distrust, or hurt. No more words of fear. For the rest of the night we would speak of only love in the best way that we knew how; with our hearts and the comfort of each other's arms.


End file.
